Gorman Bechard's Blog, page 10
May 20, 2012
The Black & White Rules of Indie Filmmaking – part 6
6. Your Audience
When people ask me who I make my films for, my answer is “me.” I make my films for myself. I know people who find this answer obnoxious, or flat out rude, or who don’t believe me. But you CANNOT create a work of art to make someone else happy. You will fail. Which is why so many Hollywood films suck.
You are your own audience of one. Does your film make you laugh, or cry? Does it move you in the way you intended it to? Are you completely proud of it? Is it what you forever want to be known for? Are you happy to sign your name to it? Would you defend it to the death as you would your child? If you can answer yes to most, if not all, of these questions, then you don’t have to worry about making your film for an audience, because the audience will find you.
Great and passionate art always rises to the top of the heap. Will everyone like your film? Absolutely not. You don’t want everyone to like your film. Because if everyone does, it’s most likely commercial crap. In fact you want some people to love it unconditionally, and some to detest it more than any film they’ve ever seen. Then you know you’ve got something special. What you certainly don’t want is people saying, “it was okay.” You want an audience to be as passionate about your film (either love or hate) as you were about making it.
In my first documentary, COLOR ME OBSESSED, A FILM ABOUT THE REPLACEMENTS, there’s an interviewee named Robert Voedisch who really polarizes many of the men in the audience. Not the women. The women seem to adore him. But he makes some men angry. Especially the more macho types. And I finally realized why. He so painfully reminds them of the geeky kid they were at fourteen, their ego now puts up a wall. He makes them uncomfortable. He makes them squirm. In Voedisch, who so blissfully lays himself emotionally naked in the film, they see who they once were, and they never want to return there. Voedisch unleashes their deep hidden secret that their macho self was once a geeky kid who hid in his room and played rock and roll records because he was too scared to talk to girls.
Another moment that I truly love in COLOR ME OBSESSED is Bil Mac’s pause. I ask the simple question: “What’s your favorite Replacements song?” He answers “Go,” and then says nothing else. I hold on his look of absolute conviction for six seconds in the film. This pause so bothered everyone who worked on the film: my closest friends, the people whose opinions I trusted and valued most. The pause had to go. Well, so I wouldn’t have to hear about it endlessly as we all discussed the various cuts of the film — what worked, what was repetitive, what was out-of-sync — I cut away at the pause until it barely existed. By the last time we all watched the film in preparation for the sound mix, looking for typos, weird cuts, anything wrong, it was down to about 24 frames. One second. But that was because I knew, the day before the sound mix, when even my assistant editor Sarah Hajtol was finally given a day off, I’d be putting the pause back in all its six second glory. In my gut it worked. It belonged. After the rapid fire pace of the first twenty minutes of the film, it was a breather. And it stands as one of my favorite moments of the film. The pause bring an air of importance to Bil’s response. It’s as if I were asking the Pope if he believed in God. That’s what the pause does. How can we not believe in The Replacements after that pause?
What I’m saying is: Find the Voedisch in your film. Find the big pause, and all the little ones. Find the elements that drives your film forward. And don’t worry if they pisses the hell out of some people. If you know in your gut they’re right, that they fit, then follow your gut. YOU, as director, are signing your name to this film. NO ONE ELSE.
Some audience members will fall in love, other will squirm uncomfortably, and you will have done your job as an artist.
Next up: Be Organized!
May 18, 2012
The Black & White Rules of Indie Filmmaking – part 5
5. No investors = no investors to pay back!
If you think the SAG paperwork is suffocating, wait until you see investor agreements, prospectuses, disclosures, etc., and so on, ad nauseum.
Here’s what it comes down to, you have no more of a chance of selling your film (having it distributed) if you spend $25K or $250K. None. You can’t afford name actors either way. All you’ll be doing with the larger figure is paying those 20 crew members your now over-priced Line Producer hired, and numerous unknown SAG actors. And you will never see a dime. And your investors will never make all of their money back. That unfortunately is just the way it is.
If you have a way of raising between $2 million and $10 million, ok, you’ll have names, and you’ll at least get paid. You’ll get attention and some sort of distribution. And certainly those names will give you a much better shot at the bigger film festivals. But still, all the names in the world won’t guarantee that. You could still be offered $50K for American rights. Which won’t make any of your investors happy. And won’t do much for your career. Unless you want to be known as the director who had names and still lost his investors $10 million. But with $25K, give or take — specially if it’s raised through a crowd sourcing sites like the amazing KickStarter, or IndieGoGo (new ones keep popping up almost weekly) – you have no investors to pay back, only rewards to dish out.
I just raised almost $34K through KickStarter for a rock documentary. Take a look at my rewards. Most of what I offered (posters, DVD screeners, t-shirts) were items I’d need when the film played the festival circuit anyway. And notice I offered them in every combination: poster with DVD, poster with T-shirt, DVD with T-shirt, all three together. Then take a look at the off-beat rewards: a day as PA, a day in the editing room. Be creative. The more you offer the better your chances of being funded are.
I mentioned IndieGoGo as well because they were first on the scene. But really, I’m not a fan. Stick with KickStarter. They took the model and ran with it. They are the kings. No one else is even close. You’ll need to decide what your goal is. We did $20K for EVERY EVERYTHING, and far surpassed it. But that was my biggest raise. For my documentary on The Replacements, I did nine separate KickStarter campaigns. Here is one. I broke them up into the different phases of production, knowing that fans of the band would be slow to find out about the film, and that so many would miss the initial campaign. Overall we raised around $32K for the film through KickStarter. I was confident going into the EVERY EVERYTHING campaign that we had built a strong network of fans. Plus COLOR ME OBSESSED received and continues to receive rave reviews. That certainly helped our cause. But be reasonable. Look at what other campaigns have raised. And work that damn campaign every day. We tweeted, posted on Facebook, on indie rock blogs, any where we could, to get attention for the EVERY EVERYTHING campaign. The money is not going to just come. You have to work it. (And trust me, if you were trying to raise $250K through investors it would be twenty times the work.)
OK…so you raise the necessary funs through KickStarter. You complete your film, and take in let’s say $50K over it’s DVD/VOD/streaming run. That’s profit that can go into your pocket, and the pockets of those who helped make the film. As I explained in the last section on backend, as director I try and keep a hefty share, at least 25%, and split the rest based on the jobs cast and crew members performed. Extras do not need backend. But your two leads who drove the film do. And even if they each have 5%, when they end up making $2500 for their two week shoot, they will be ecstatic. They actually got paid for doing something they loved. Now you’re thinking $12,500 doesn’t seem like a lot of money for all the work you did. Think of it as a starting point (and hell, if your film has buzz, it could be more). You’re going to make at least two of these films a year. (This is a full time job, not play time, which is one thing they never seem to teach people in film school.) And your core audience will grow with every film, as long as you stay true to who you are as a filmmaker, and as an artist.
Next up: Who is your audience?
The Black & White Rules of Indie Filmmaking – part 4
4. Pay backend only.
Really. Pay no one up front. Work out backend deals, and treat filmmaking like a business. If your film is any good you will make some money back. And if you have only 10 people sharing backend, with no investors (get to that shortly) to pay back, everyone will see a check or two, or more.
But also remember, you as director/writer/producer should keep the biggest piece of the pie. You could be working on this project for a years (I shot my first COLOR ME OBSESSED interview in November 2009, it’s now May 2012 and I’m still traveling with the film), while the person doing sound was in and out in two weeks. So, you are the biggest investor: of TIME. Figure out everyone’s role, how much time everyone is spending on the film, what they’re bringing to the table so to speak, and work out percentages from there. If the DP is bringing along the entire camera and lighting package, you need to factor that in. If you are shooting in one location for a few weeks, and that location is as important as any cast member, the owner of the location needs to be compensated appropriately. And no, one percent or less is not an insult, if the person really has only spent a small amount of time on the film. But really think this through. Make a list of every single person who will have something to do with the film, from indie bands who contribute a song to the soundtrack, the person designing your poster/website, leave no one out, then work on the numbers.
This CAN work. But backend gets a dirty name because most people don’t follow through, or they have no solid plan on how to distribute their film once it’s done. There are so many ancillary markets at this point in time, so many places to get your film seen, and so many books and sites that point you in the right direction. Do some homework, research, Google exists for a reason. You are not going to make a film, sit back, get into Sundance, be signed by CAA, and get a 4-picture deal with one of the studios. That really is not going to happen. Ever. You need to be proactive, you need to make everything in your career happen. It’s ALL on your shoulders.
But remember, when you get in that check from Netflix, or iTunes, or even YouTube, when you get in every check, even it it’s only $500, pay out backend. Because even getting a royalty check of $20 will make someone’s day. And you will get a reputation as a filmmaker people will want to work for, i.e. he/she finishes his/her films, actually gets them distributed, and pays out royalties. That almost seems like a pie-in-the-sky fantasy in the indie world, but ask my crew/cast members, they’ll tell you it can happen.
Next up: Funding Your Film
May 16, 2012
When what makes you feel most alive is killing you.
A new KickStarter project . . . a feature-film set in the world of internet modeling: BROKEN SIDE OF TIME
The Black & White Rules of Indie Filmmaking – part 3
3. Casting.
Never give a friend or family member a speaking role in your film. Every line is important. And the wrong reading of even one line can take the viewer out of the film. Actors are everywhere, especially if you’re within a hundred miles of near New York or Los Angeles. Find them by place a casting notice in Back Stage, or any one of the many online casting services, such as The Casting Network.
But if you’re doing a micro budget film, stay away from SAG-indie. They are hands-down the most difficult union to deal with. Their paperwork is suffocating. You’ll have to give a deposit assuring you’ll pay your SAG actors what you agreed to pay them, and it’ll take months to get that deposit back after they’ve been paid. They do not bend the rules whatsoever. Really, unless you have a name actor who will make it easier to get distribution for your film, and who is willing to work under the SAG low-budget agreement (i.e. for $100 per day), or if you have an actor whom you know is the only person on the planet perfect for the role (that’s how I learned about SAG-indie), stay far far away. There are many good actors out there who are not SAG members.
Have time and patience when casting. You might not find your dream cast the first time out. But they are out there. And once you have them locked down, rehearse. Remember your script is about real characters in real situations. Allow your actors to work on their part. Together. With you in the room. Bring pizza and beer. Take notes, give notes. Now is the time to get the nuances down.
I’ve easily spent six months rehearsing a film. Perhaps more than that with Jessica Bohl, the star of YOU ARE ALONE. Jessica was a professional model who had never acted before. I allowed her to bring much of her personality and back story to the script, so much so that she was given an “additional dialog by” credit. But all of that work made her performance vital and honest. Jessica went on to win numerous best actress awards at film festivals where YOU ARE ALONE screened.
Remember, it’s about the story you’re telling. And sometimes the greatest line of dialog in a script can sound false when read out loud. Or your actor just has a problem with a certain word. Change it. Find something with the same meaning. You want your actor to inherit the role, for them to believe that they are this character. If they’re uncomfortable with a line, it will show. But work all of this out in rehearsals. One of the things that has made me angriest on set was when an actress decided she didn’t understand a certain line. We had been rehearsing for months. So she had months to question the line. That was the appropriate time to do so. Not when cameras are rolling, and you’re on a very tight schedule. This goes for director, writer, and cast: work it ALL out in rehearsals.
That also means trying to get as much of the blocking down as possible. And blocking can be a complete bitch when working in a confined space. Look at YOU ARE ALONE, two people in a room for about 60 minutes of the film’s 84 minute running time. Trying to keep it interesting, and real, and also something they could repeat again and again on subsequent takes. An actor who can remember his/her blocking is a life saver in the editing room. Someone who changes it up, even a little, every time, will drive your editor crazy because the close up will never correctly match the wide shot. (One example, an actor picks up a bottle of beer during a conversation. He needs to pick it up with the same hand, in the same way, on the same word. An actor who can do that is like a gift from above.)
And sure a lot of this blocking will change on set, but at least you’ll have a notion of what you want, the actor will know on what line he needs to pick up the beer bottle, and you’ll all be able to adapt quickly to the nuances of the set.
Next up: Paying Backend
The Black & White Rules of Indie Filmmaking – part 2
2. Keep your crew small.
No micro-budget film needs a crew of more than 5 or 6 people, and that includes the director. If you hire a line producer/production manager who wants to hire a first AD, second AD, UPM, and script supervisor. Either explain to him that he is wearing all of those hats, or fire him and find someone who actually wants to work. There’s no reason for a crew of 20 people on an indie film. There’s no reason for a crew of ten. None. Most of them stand around with their arms folded looking bored, then complain come meal time that you don’t have yogurt for breakfast. You might not be paying them, but you still have to feed them. (And crew members seriously, if there’s something you absolutely need to eat on set, buy it for yourself, and bring it to set. As I said in one of my director’s commentaries, “Get your own fucking yogurt!”) And if you’re daily food budget is say $200. Ten people (say 6 crew members and 4 cast members) can eat a lot better on $200 than thirty can. A well-fed crew is a happy crew. Last summer when six of us headed down to Chapel Hill to shoot my Archers of Loaf concert film, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?, I treated us all to a five-star meal. Honestly the most expensive meal I’ve ever paid for on a set. (That includes a set of thirty when doing FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS, and people ate well on that set.) But it set a perfect mood. Everyone was happy. And still to this day talk about that meal at Lantern.
The same rules apply for all the departments. On a micro budget film your DP should light and do all camera work. If he knows what he/she is doing, it’ll still look like a million dollars. If he/she doesn’t, all the extra crew members in the world won’t make your film look any better. (I’m working on a film called BROKEN SIDE OF TIME where as the only…the ONLY…crew member on a certain scene I lit it with a Zippo lighter. It looks freaking awesome! Mind-blowingly awesome!). Design team = one person. Makeup and hair should and could be done by the actors. They can probably do it better on themselves than anyone you can afford, unless of course we’re talking horror, then you’ll need someone good with the gore and blood. Sound = one person. Throw in you, the director, and perhaps one good PA (who has some knowledge of lights, but also doesn’t mind going on a lunch run, wrangling cables, sitting in a van watching equipment, grunt work . . . and let me set something straight right now, on my sets I will wrangle cables, haul equipment, set up gear, do whatever it takes . . . there’s no room for divas in micro budget), and there’s your crew. Anyone else is wasted money and space. (Note: if you’re doing a documentary, you probably want two cameras going at all times, in which case, the design person is replaced by a second DP.)
This is the new model for making indie films. The smart model. And if people tell you it can’t be done this way, they’re either lazy and don’t really want to work, or they have no clue as to what they’re doing and don’t belong on a film set. (About 75% of the people you’ll meet making and/or working on films will fall into one of those two categories. If you’re in Connecticut make that 90%. They’ll hopefully find other career paths in short time.)
NOTE: do not hire your friends to be crew, unless your friends were crew members first, i.e. you became friends after working together on a project. Otherwise, they will either no longer be your friends, your film will suffer, or most likely both.
ALSO: just because someone went to film school, doesn’t mean they know what to do on a film set. I usually find just the opposite to be the case. Look for people who’ve worked on sets, a lot of sets. Experiences trumps school a million times over. Look for people who love movies and want to learn how a film is made. Look for a DP who wants to be a DP. A production manager who loves to manage. Stay away from people who say ultimately they want to direct, because ultimately they will want to direct YOUR film.
And note to crew members. NEVER EVER give an opinion out loud as to how an actor should deliver a line. That is SO NOT your place. (Besides undermining the director, you are now shaking the confidence of the actor.) If you have an idea about that or anything (shot, sound, lighting), and if there is time, pull the director aside and tell him/her. Also if the director gives you certain rules about behavior on his set, follow them. Make believe you’re in the army, and the director is your general. No, really. (See, this is why you don’t hire friends.) If you don’t follow the rules you’ll be court marshalled, or at least thrown through a plate glass window.
A lot more on that when we get to organization, but honestly if you have five great crew members, all there to work, none of that will be an issue.
Next up: Casting
May 15, 2012
The Black & White Rules of Indie Filmmaking – part 1
First off, when I say indie, I don’t mean Hollywood indie. I don’t mean a $10 million budget. There ain’t nothing indie about $10 million, unless it’s coming out of your pocket. I’m talking micro-budget here. $10K to $25K to make a feature film. It can be done. It can be done well. And if you know what you’re doing, if you have some talent and a little business sense, you can turn it into a career, where you can make the films you want and never never never have to listen to development notes from someone who hasn’t a creative bone in their body. (Despite the fact that they personally believe their ideas are genius.)
I call these the “black & white rules” because to me they are pretty much written in stone. You can veer a little off route here and there, but ultimately you will need to end up here.
1. Start with the script. A well-written script that follows some sort of three act structure. I’ve said it before, every good film, every good story, follows some sort of three act structure. It might be fucked up and inverted, but it’s there. If it’s not, the story just doesn’t work. There are no examples to prove otherwise. Don’t email me with them, I’ll just have to write you back and show you the three act structure that’s right there in front of your face but you’re too dumb to see.
No indie script needs to be more than 90 pages. If it is, cut it down. Locations should be kept to a minimum. Stay away from exteriors, your sound will suck and you won’t have the money to fix it. No car chases, no explosions, no helicopter shots. No mansions, unless your rich uncle owns one. Use your head. What and where can you get for free? Alfred Hitchcock once said you could make a great film in a closet if you know what your doing. Limit the number of characters, especially background extras. You don’t have the money for crowd scenes. Even if you’re not paying them, you probably have to feed them.
Write believable characters, who speak believable dialog (no Diablo Cody-speak please, no one on the planet talks like that). Write about people we care about. (Not mumblecore losers who have no life, and no job.) TELL A FUCKING STORY. Keep it compelling, compact and real. And as great as your script it. Be prepared to see it morph before your eyes during rehearsals, then again during shooting, and yet again during the editing process. But that’s okay. Never be locked to the words on the page, be locked to the story you’re telling. Even though the script is complete you might not yet even be sure what that is. If you have talent, the story will emerge, and hopefully hold a few surprises even for you.
Next up: The Crew
The Black & White Rules to Indie Filmmaking – part 1
First off, when I say indie, I don’t mean Hollywood indie. I don’t mean a $10 million budget. There ain’t nothing indie about $10 million, unless it’s coming out of your pocket. I’m talking micro-budget here. $10K to $25K to make a feature film. It can be done. It can be done well. And if you know what you’re doing, if you have some talent and a little business sense, you can turn it into a career, where you can make the films you want and never never never have to listen to development notes from someone who hasn’t a creative bone in their body. (Despite the fact that they personally believe their ideas are genius.)
I call these the “black & white rules” because to me they are pretty much written in stone. You can veer a little off route here and there, but ultimately you will need to end up here.
1. Start with the script. A well-written script that follows some sort of three act structure. I’ve said it before, every good film, every good story, follows some sort of three act structure. It might be fucked up and inverted, but it’s there. If it’s not, the story just doesn’t work. There are no examples to prove otherwise. Don’t email me with them, I’ll just have to write you back and show you the three act structure that’s right there in front of your face but you’re too dumb to see.
No indie script needs to be more than 90 pages. If it is, cut it down. Locations should be kept to a minimum. Stay away from exteriors, your sound will suck and you won’t have the money to fix it. No car chases, no explosions, no helicopter shots. No mansions, unless your rich uncle owns one. Use your head. What and where can you get for free? Alfred Hitchcock once said you could make a great film in a closet if you know what your doing. Limit the number of characters, especially background extras. You don’t have the money for crowd scenes. Even if you’re not paying them, you probably have to feed them.
Write believable characters, who speak believable dialog (no Diablo Cody-speak please, no one on the planet talks like that). Write about people we care about. (Not mumblecore losers who have no life, and no job.) TELL A FUCKING STORY. Keep it compelling, compact and real. And as great as your script it. Be prepared to see it morph before your eyes during rehearsals, then again during shooting, and yet again during the editing process. But that’s okay. Never be locked to the words on the page, be locked to the story you’re telling. Even though the script is complete you might not yet even be sure what that is. If you have talent, the story will emerge, and hopefully hold a few surprises even for you.
Next up: The Crew
April 23, 2012
A new video promo for our upcoming Grant Hart film
We put together a new promo video for Every Everything, our documentary on Husker Du’s Grant Hart.
We’ve got 11 days to go on the KickStarter project. Please support indie film by pre-ordering that DVD, t-shirt…we have so many great rewards.
But watch the video. It will make you want to see more…
Click HERE
